Opthalmic dispensing device

ABSTRACT

An opthalmic dispensing device, comprising a receptacle member comprising a chamber for holding a fluid to be dispensed and comprising a mouth portion, an insert member adapted to be mounted at said mouth portion, said insert member comprising a first tubular element extending from said mouth portion into said chamber, a socket element disposed at a first end of said tubular element located at said mouth portion, and an apertured plate member disposed at said first end and extending across the mouth of said receptacle member, an eye cup element comprising a base portion and a wall portion and further comprising a second tubular element located at said base portion, said second tubular element comprising a first tubular projection extending from the interior face of said cup element only into the area defined by said base and wall portions and a second tubular projection extending from the exterior surface of said cup element, said first tubular projection being adapted to engage said socket element in substantially air-tight relationship, and a deformable bulb member disposed at said second tubular projection.

United States Patent [191 Harrison 1 1 OPTHALMIC DISPENSING DEVICE [75] Inventor: Kenneth Harrison, Matawan, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Lawrence Peska Assoc., New York,

[22] Filed: May 13, 1974 [21] Applr No.: 469,288

{52] 11.8. C1 128/233; 128/249 [51] Int. Cl .1A6lm1/00 [58] Field of Search 128/233, 231, 232, 249, 128/248; 222/420 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 914,295 3/1909 Mahcr .4 128/249 1,155,584 10/1915 La Grange A v r 1 r M 128/233 1,203,919 11/1916 Simpson 128/233 X 2,209,192 7/1940 Dcmsey U 128/249 2,482,431 9/1949 Okawa 4 t r 128/233 2,877,810 3/1959 Zackhcim .1 128/233 X Primary Examiner-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant ExaminerJ. Yasko June 10, 1975 [57] ABSTRACT An opthalmic dispensing device, comprising a receptacle member comprising a chamber for holding a fluid to be dispensed and comprising a mouth portion, an insert member adapted to be mounted at said mouth portion, said insert member comprising a first tubular element extending from said mouth portion into said chamber, a socket element disposed at a first end of said tubular element located at said mouth portion, and an apertured plate member disposed at said first end and extending across the mouth of said receptacle member, an eye cup element comprising a base portion and a wall portion and further comprising a second tubular element located at said base portion, said second tubular element comprising a first tubular projection extending from the interior face of said cup e1- ement only into the area defined by said base and wall portions and a second tubular projection extending from the exterior surface of said cup element, said first tubular projection being adapted to engage said socket element in substantially air-tight relationship, and a deformable bulb member disposed at said second tubular projection.

15 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures OPTHALMIC DISPENSING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present application pertains to an opthalmic device for dispensing fluid, particularly to one comprising an eye cup. US. Pat. No. 1,557,620; 3,279,446; 2,589,178; 2,898,911; and 3,016,898 are relevant.

Some prior art devices for dispensing fluids to ones eye have a complicated structure, leading to higher manufacturing costs. Others provide for a bottle to be incorporated with an eye cup, the resulting structure being bulky and when the bottle is full, detracting from the ease of handling of the device. The present invention avoids these problems and provides further benefits as well.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a sectional elevation view of the present device.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation view of a part of the present device, in use at the eye region of the user.

FIGv 3 is a sectional top view along axis III-III of the device in FIG. 1.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention comprises an opthalmic device for dispensing fluids, which device 10 comprises a receptacle member 12 that includes a chamber 14 for holding the fluid 16 that is to be dispensed and a mouth portion 18 and an insert member 20 mounted at the mouth portion 18, which member 20 includes a first tubular element 22, a socket element 24 disposed at one end 26 of the first tubular element 22, both the socket element 24 and the element end 26 being located at the mouth portion 18, and an apertured plate member 28 located at the element end 26 and extending across the receptacle mouth. The device 10 further comprises an eye cup element 30 that includes a base portion 32 and a wall portion 34, and includes, also, a second tubular element 36 that extends through the base portion 32 (which element 36 can be integral with the base portion 32, as shown, or can be a separate body inserted through an aperture in the base portion) and that comprises a first tubular projection 38 that extends from the interior surface 40 of the cup element 30 and has a second tubular projection 42 that extends from the exterior face 44 of the cup element 30. The first tubular projection 38 extends only into the area 46 defined by the base wall portions 32, 34 (i.e., the projection 38 does not extend beyond the distal periphery 48 of the cup element 30) and is adapted to engage the socket element 24 in a substantially air-tight manner when the cup element 30 is mounted on the receptacle member 12.

The device 10 further comprises a deformable bulb member 50 that is located at the second tubular projection 42, the interior space 52 of the bulb member 50 communicating with the chamber 14 via the internal passageway 54 provided by the first and second tubular projections 38, 42.

The first tubular element 22 extends from the mouth portion 18 of the receptacle member 12 into and toward the bottom of, the chamber 14, it being preferred that the second end 56 of the first tubular element 22 is proximate to the chamber bottom so that substantially all of the fluid 16 is removable from the chamber 14. The receptacle member 12, the insert member 20 and the cup element 30 can be made of glass, plastic, or other suitable material, it being preferred, however, that at least one of the socket element 24 and the first tubular projection 38 (or at least the distal part of the tubular projection remote from the base portion 32) be of a resilient material, e.g., rubber, soft plastic, etc., to ensure a substantially air-tight engagement therebetween. The bulb member 50 can be of rubber, e.g., or some other deformable material.

The socket element 24 preferably comprises a countersunk recess portion 60 for releasably engaging the first tubular projection 38, it being preferred that the distal face at the end of the first tubular projection 38 remote from the base portion, which distal face engages the socket element 24, conform generally to the shape of such recess portion 60 to further ensure a substantially air-tight engagement therebetween.

According to a further preferred embodiment, the receptacle member 12 comprises a screw-threaded portion 68 and the cup element 30 also comprises a screw-threaded portion 70 located at the interior surface of distal portion 48 of the wall portion 34, such that the cup element 30 can be screwed onto the receptacle member 12. Alternatively, the receptacle member can comprise a flange portion (similar to the screw thread part 72) and the cup element can comprise at the distal portion a lip portion (similar to the thread part 74) that extends across part of the opening of the cup element, thus allowing the cup element to be snapped onto the receptacle member.

It is preferred that the receptacle member comprise a neck and shoulder portions 66 and 76 respectively and that the screw-threaded portion 68 thereof be located at the exterior surface in the vicinity of the shoulder portion 76 or at the neck portion 66 (as shown).

The apertured plate member 28 preferably is substantially transverse to the principal axis of the first tubular element 22. Further, the plate member 28 (FIG. 3) preferably comprises a peripheral ring member 80 and one or more strip members 82 that extend across the opening of the ring member, with the socket element 24 being located at a strip member 82. According to a further preferred embodiment, the plate member 28 comprises plural strip elements 82 (FIG. 3) that extend radially across the opening of the ring member 80, with the socket element 24 being located at the juncture of the strip elements 82 (e.g., at the center of the ring member opening). It is preferred that the plate member 28 be of relatively rigid material, e.g., metal, hard rubber, plastic, etc.

The interior passageways of the first and second tubular projections 38, 42 preferably are aligned and it is preferred that the base portion 32 of the cup element 30 be transverse to the second tubular element 36.

To use the device 10, the bulb member 50 is squeezed and released to permit fluid 16 to rise into the first tubular element and fill, at least partly, the bulb member 50. Because of the substantially air-tight engagement between the socket element 24 and the first tubular projection 38, there will be little, if any, problem of providing the fluid 16 in the bulb member 50. The insert member 20 is then removed from the receptacle member 12 and placed so that the cup element 30 covers the eye region of the user (FIG. 2), the bulb member then being squeezed (as indicated by the arrows to force the fluid 16 out of the bulb member.

The insert member can be used to provide the fluid 16 to only the eye itself or the region of the eye can be bathed (as in FIG. 3) by introducing a relatively large amount of fluid thereto.

Having herein described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An opthalmic dispensing device, comprising: (a) a receptacle member comprising a chamber for holding a fluid to be dispensed and comprising a mouth portion, (b) an insert member adapted to be mounted at said mouth portion, said insert member comprising a first tubular element extending from said mouth portion into said chamber, a socket element disposed at a first end of said tubular element located at said mouth por' tion, and an apertured plate member disposed at said first end and extending across the mouth of said receptacle member, (c) an eye cup element comprising a base portion and a wall portion and further comprising a second tubular element located at said base portion, said second tubular element comprising a first tubular projection extending from the interior face of said cup element only into the area defined by said base and wall portions and a second tubular projection extending from the exterior surface of said cup element, said first tubular projection being adapted to engage said socket element in substantially air tight relationship, and (d) a deformable bulb member disposed at said second tubular projection.

2. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein the second end of said first tubular element is located proxi mate the bottom of said chamber.

3. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said wall portion comprises a threaded region located at said interior face.

4. A dispensing device as in claim 3, wherein said wall portion comprises peripheral portions remote from said base portion and said threaded region is disposed at said peripheral portions.

5. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said re ceptacle member comprises a threaded part located at the exterior surface thereof and adapted to engage said threaded region of said cup element.

6. A dispensing device as in claim 1 wherein said socket comprises a countersunk portion for releasably engaging said first tubular projection.

7. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said apertured plate member is substantially transverse to the principal axis of said first tubular element.

8. A dispensing device as in claim I, wherein said apertured plate member comprises a peripheral ring member and at least one strip member extending across the opening of said ring member, said socket element being disposed on said strip member.

9. A dispensing device as in claim 1 wherein said apertured plate member comprises a peripheral ring member and plural strip elements extending radially across the opening of said ring member and said socket element is disposed at substantially the center of said opening.

10. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said apertured plate member is of a relatively rigid material.

11. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said receptacle member comprises a neck portion and further comprises a threaded part located at the exterior surface of said neck portion.

12. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said socket element is of resilient material.

13. A dispensing device as in claim 1 wherein the interior passageways of said first and second tubular projections are substantially axially aligned with each otherv 14. A dispensing device as in claim 1 wherein said base portion is substantially transverse to said second tubular element.

15. A dispensing device as in claim I, wherein at least the distal portion of said first tubular projection is of deformable material so as to releasably engage said socket element in substantially air-tight manner. 

1. An opthalmic dispensing device, comprising: (a) a receptacle member comprising a chamber for holding a fluid to be dispensed and comprising a mouth portion, (b) an insert member adapted to be mounted at said mouth portion, said insert member comprising a first tubular element extending from said mouth portion into said chamber, a socket element disposed at a first end of said tubular element located at said mouth portion, and an apertured plate member disposed at said first end and extending across the mouth of said receptacle member, (c) an eye cup element comprising a base portion and a wall portion and further comprising a second tubular element located at said base portion, said second tubular element comprising a first tubular projection extending from the interior face of said cup element only into the area defined by said base and wall portions and a second tubular projection extending from the exterior surface of said cup element, said first tubular projection being adapted to engage said socket element in substantially air tight relationship, and (d) a deformable bulb member disposed at said second tubular projection.
 2. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein the second end of said first tubular element is located proximate the bottom of said chamber.
 3. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said wall portion comprises a threaded region located at said interior face.
 4. A dispensing device as in claim 3, wherein said wall portion comprises peripheral portions remote from said base portion and said threaded region is disposed at said peripheral portions.
 5. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said receptacle member comprises a threaded part located at the exterior surface thereof and adapted to engage said threaded region of said cup element.
 6. A dispensing device as in claim 1 wherein said socket comprises a countersunk portion for releasably engaging said first tubular projection.
 7. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said apertured plate member is substantially transverse to the principal axis of said first tubular element.
 8. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said apertured plate member comprises a peripheral ring member and at least one strip member extending across the opening of said ring member, said socket element being disposed on said strip member.
 9. A dispensing device as in claim 1 wherein said apertured plate member comprises a peripheral ring member and plural strip elements extending radially across the opening of said ring member and said socket element is disposed at substantially the center of said opening.
 10. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said apertured plate member is of a relatively rigid material.
 11. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said receptacle member comprises a neck portion and further comprises a threaded part located at the exterior surface of said neck portion.
 12. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein said socket element is of resilient material.
 13. A dispensing device as in claim 1 wherein the interior passageways of said first and second tubular projections are substantially axially aligned with each other.
 14. A dispensing device as in claim 1 wherein said base portion is substantially transverse to said second tubular element.
 15. A dispensing device as in claim 1, wherein at least the distal portion of said first tubular projection is of deformabLe material so as to releasably engage said socket element in substantially air-tight manner. 